Emmis/LA

[Bianco500]

Nice to see them getting screwed. Bruce Reese wouldn't even buy KMVN, instead electing to purchase 100.3 and then on top of that he took the last opportunity that someone mabye had to program a whitebread format in LA.

Should have just stayed country Smulyan and Cummings. Now instead you two are the laughing stock of Los Angeles with a 60 year old white guy morning guy that is so out of touch with Los Angeles he makes Charlie Tuna look hip.(at least Tuna didn't use Mexican sthick to try and keep himself on in LA).

At this point, best thing would be is to fire Dees and hire some no name for morning drive(they have no format options and no meaningful buyers in the wing, no one wants to operate a stand alone other then Boneville.)

 

[nmoore6676]

Turn the table on Saul Levine and flip to Classical, couldn't do any worse. If I recall correctly KMZT did better in ratings than they are now. I can see RD hosting "Morning Symphony" ;D

 

[davideduardo]

Turn the table on Saul Levine and flip to Classical, couldn't do any worse. If I recall correctly KMZT did better in ratings than they are now. I can see RD hosting "Morning Symphony" ;D

KMZT and Go Country had fairly similar 12+ numbers, but in sales demos, the country format is vastly better. Classical today is mostly 55+ if not 65+.

A trivia question... and I do not have the answer: when did the last FM "go" classical, either as a sign on or a format conversion. I can't even remember one other than Darryl Peter's conversion to classical of a suburban Milwaukee station in the early 80's, I believe.

 

[david]

when did the last FM "go" classical, either as a sign on or a format conversion. I can't even remember one other than Darryl Peter's conversion to classical of a suburban Milwaukee station in the early 80's, I believe.

XLNC in San Diego is an example of a more recent launch of a Classical format, albeit that station has an unusual business model - no on-air spots. Revenue is generated from online contributions.

Regarding KMVN, I'd consider takting a page from the old KBIG playbook - who sampled Disco and grew it for several years into a viable existence - move KMVN into a more CHR/Dance direction. This reverses their move last year away from currents was a mistake, which should be rectified. By keeping some rhythmic and adding in some CHR Pop along with Dance (such as Dance weekends and/or evenings) they could fill a pretty nice available hole in this market now that AAA is off the table as a go-to option.

 

[nmoore6676]

Turn the table on Saul Levine and flip to Classical, couldn't do any worse. If I recall correctly KMZT did better in ratings than they are now. I can see RD hosting "Morning Symphony" ;D

KMZT and Go Country had fairly similar 12+ numbers, but in sales demos, the country format is vastly better. Classical today is mostly 55+ if not 65+.

A trivia question... and I do not have the answer: when did the last FM "go" classical, either as a sign on or a format conversion. I can't even remember one other than Darryl Peter's conversion to classical of a suburban Milwaukee station in the early 80's, I believe.

I recall some LPFM's that Scott Fybush visited in New England but I doubt any full power stations have recently. I will try to devise a search to get the info, there aren't any data bases that I've happened onto as yet.

Sorry though I still love the idea of Rick Dees doing Beethoven and Bach in the morning, I have such a vivid mental image, imagine him in the hushed reverent tone required of all classical presenters, you can't call them DJs. If they are losing money they might as well make a cultural contribution to the city.

Classical is a natural for automation. When I was at WOSU in the late sixties, early seventies the FM was fully automated, with local news prerecorded on carts 15 minutes prior to air time at the top of the hour. It would be even easier with everything today on servers. We had to deal with racks full of those 10" reels with magnetic tape because the music had to be different every day.

 

[davideduardo]

XLNC in San Diego is an example of a more recent launch of a Classical format, albeit that station has an unusual business model - no on-air spots. Revenue is generated from online contributions.

It's XHLNC, not XLNC. And the station was the labor of love of Víctor Díaz, who paid most of the expenses and endowed the station when he passed.

Regarding KMVN, I'd consider takting a page from the old KBIG playbook - who sampled Disco and grew it for several years into a viable existence - move KMVN into a more CHR/Dance direction. This reverses their move last year away from currents was a mistake, which should be rectified. By keeping some rhythmic and adding in some CHR Pop along with Dance (such as Dance weekends and/or evenings) they could fill a pretty nice available hole in this market now that AAA is off the table as a go-to option.

CHR as a position is filled with KIIS; how many markets do you know that can support two CHR's? There is no alternate CHR position which is both viable and mainstream.

 

[htowler]

Not Many can do 2 CHRs Definatley Not NYC or LA. Savannah had 2 for about 4 years when WZAT went from HotAC to CHR. WZAT Went Back to HotAC as it was getting killed by WEAV (Another KISS FM "Clone")

 

[JustinT]

A trivia question... and I do not have the answer: when did the last FM "go" classical, either as a sign on or a format conversion. I can't even remember one other than Darryl Peter's conversion to classical of a suburban Milwaukee station in the early 80's, I believe.

107.7 WMDI in Bar Harbor, ME dropped rock to became part of the regional "W-Bach" classical network as WBQI in April 2001. That's got to be one of the last commercial flips to classical.

 

[Radiogeek500]

Many love to give critism to Emmis for KMVN and Rick Dees and such.

Saying Reese screwed Smulyan is a statement that jumps way too far ahead when you consider that Reese is trying to push a format that NEVER has had success in LA no matter how many times it has been tried. Is Reese actually screwing himself? Even though a 137 million price tag might be cheap by today's standards for a Wilson FM, if you don't show you can at least bill 20 million with it, it doesn't matter

Emmis at least had a format that could have succeeded, but the wrong morning host and the timing wasn't great. Rick Dees just isn't viable in a Rhythmic anything format and the timing wasn't great either as we already had 2 stations succeeding in Old Skool music and a 3rd(KKBT/KRBV) attempting to muscle it's way in. You can argue "but RO and Stevie were targeting blacks and Hot is Latino" but to a average listener it's still old skool music and too much exposure of anything only dillutes a product. It's why KRBV is no longer here, and yes, KMVN soon will go too but it's tougher for KMVN, almost anything else as previously stated would be whitebread, Bianco500 did speculate they could go UAC with Michael Baisden as a last resort(Baisden is based out of Emmis owned WRKS in NYC) assuming KDAY can't reach a argeement. Prehaps that could be co sold in combo better with KPWR, I myself don't know how viable it would be, but other then spanish launguage, mabye AC?(and it would be tougher going up against David ;D) I don't see other significant options(and no, KIIS or KOST competition WILL NOT happen, we've had 320 topics about that. Of course I recall Tom Taylor actually speculating in a newsletter that Emmis might have waited to see what the Bonneville folks would do before making a decision with KMVN.

As stated, there is no easy answer for Emmis, I agree there, and I wouldn't be suprised if Reese found himself with KMVN numbers. And with even less options then Radio One or Emmis ever had/have unless the mormons start allowing a little more lee-way(like playing Hip Hop)what WILL he do?

 

[radioresearcher]

Many love to give critism to Emmis for KMVN and Rick Dees and such.

Saying Reese screwed Smulyan is a statement that jumps way too far ahead when you consider that Reese is trying to push a format that NEVER has had success in LA no matter how many times it has been tried. Is Reese actually screwing himself? Even though a 137 million price tag might be cheap by today's standards for a Wilson FM, if you don't show you can at least bill 20 million with it, it doesn't matter

Emmis at least had a format that could have succeeded, but the wrong morning host and the timing wasn't great. Rick Dees just isn't viable in a Rhythmic anything format and the timing wasn't great either as we already had 2 stations succeeding in Old Skool music and a 3rd(KKBT/KRBV) attempting to muscle it's way in. You can argue "but RO and Stevie were targeting blacks and Hot is Latino" but to a average listener it's still old skool music and too much exposure of anything only dillutes a product. It's why KRBV is no longer here, and yes, KMVN soon will go too but it's tougher for KMVN, almost anything else as previously stated would be whitebread, Bianco500 did speculate they could go UAC with Michael Baisden as a last resort(Baisden is based out of Emmis owned WRKS in NYC) assuming KDAY can't reach a argeement. Prehaps that could be co sold in combo better with KPWR, I myself don't know how viable it would be, but other then spanish launguage, mabye AC?(and it would be tougher going up against David ;D) I don't see other significant options(and no, KIIS or KOST competition WILL NOT happen, we've had 320 topics about that. Of course I recall Tom Taylor actually speculating in a newsletter that Emmis might have waited to see what the Bonneville folks would do before making a decision with KMVN.

As stated, there is no easy answer for Emmis, I agree there, and I wouldn't be suprised if Reese found himself with KMVN numbers. And with even less options then Radio One or Emmis ever had/have unless the mormons start allowing a little more lee-way(like playing Hip Hop)what WILL he do?

I believe there are options with the meter coming. We still do not have a real rock station. Active or Mainstream Rock would perform moderately well - even with the current ethnic makeup of the marketplace. Both KCXX and KCAL pull over 40% Hispanic cume on a regular basis in the I.E. We now have three stations playing Spoon but no one playing Disturbed.

 

[davideduardo]

I believe there are options with the meter coming. We still do not have a real rock station. Active or Mainstream Rock would perform moderately well - even with the current ethnic makeup of the marketplace. Both KCXX and KCAL pull over 40% Hispanic cume on a regular basis in the I.E. We now have three stations playing Spoon but no one playing Disturbed.

Keep in mind that the IE Hispanic community is vastly more second and third generation than LA- And that while alternative leaning rock is huge in Latin America, active and most mainstream is not. If any rock station can index high with Hispanics, it is KROQ.

 

[nmoore6676]

Many love to give critism to Emmis for KMVN and Rick Dees and such.

Saying Reese screwed Smulyan is a statement that jumps way too far ahead when you consider that Reese is trying to push a format that NEVER has had success in LA no matter how many times it has been tried. Is Reese actually screwing himself? Even though a 137 million price tag might be cheap by today's standards for a Wilson FM, if you don't show you can at least bill 20 million with it, it doesn't matter

Emmis at least had a format that could have succeeded, but the wrong morning host and the timing wasn't great. Rick Dees just isn't viable in a Rhythmic anything format and the timing wasn't great either as we already had 2 stations succeeding in Old Skool music and a 3rd(KKBT/KRBV) attempting to muscle it's way in. You can argue "but RO and Stevie were targeting blacks and Hot is Latino" but to a average listener it's still old skool music and too much exposure of anything only dillutes a product. It's why KRBV is no longer here, and yes, KMVN soon will go too but it's tougher for KMVN, almost anything else as previously stated would be whitebread, Bianco500 did speculate they could go UAC with Michael Baisden as a last resort(Baisden is based out of Emmis owned WRKS in NYC) assuming KDAY can't reach a argeement. Prehaps that could be co sold in combo better with KPWR, I myself don't know how viable it would be, but other then spanish launguage, mabye AC?(and it would be tougher going up against David ;D) I don't see other significant options(and no, KIIS or KOST competition WILL NOT happen, we've had 320 topics about that. Of course I recall Tom Taylor actually speculating in a newsletter that Emmis might have waited to see what the Bonneville folks would do before making a decision with KMVN.

As stated, there is no easy answer for Emmis, I agree there, and I wouldn't be suprised if Reese found himself with KMVN numbers. And with even less options then Radio One or Emmis ever had/have unless the mormons start allowing a little more lee-way(like playing Hip Hop)what WILL he do?

When I came to California from Ohio, Rick was still on KHJ. I followed him to KIIS but dropped out when the music got out of my taste range. I am a certified member of The Elderly Gaseous Emmissions Club. I think the Clear Channel suits (not Brian) realized that Rick has now joined my club too so they replaced him with the younger Ryan Seacrest. Remember that the original plans had a private suite of sorts just for Dees. Since Ryan doesn't spend much time in Burbank it is probably gathering cobwebs now and I think I read somewhere that Ryan didn't want it anyway. Now CC could have moved Rick to another station in their group but probably not at the same salary and star accommodations and so they didn't. KRTH likely didn't live up to Rick's expectations so they didn't do a deal, where he would have been a natural and all of his fans who grew up with him would have tuned in, in droves. So along comes Emmis withe a misconceived format for which they see Rick Dees as the anchor to bring in the listeners and the rest is history.

Having some time in radio and encountering radio people when I was in local origination for Cable TV I know there is an ego issue with hot DJs ( even some not so hot) and more especially aging hot DJs and personalities. I expect Rick has that problem so taking a less lucrative offer (-$$$) from KRTH would be not on his radar, but would have been a win / win for all concerned if it had gone down.

 

[radioresearcher]

I believe there are options with the meter coming. We still do not have a real rock station. Active or Mainstream Rock would perform moderately well - even with the current ethnic makeup of the marketplace. Both KCXX and KCAL pull over 40% Hispanic cume on a regular basis in the I.E. We now have three stations playing Spoon but no one playing Disturbed.

Keep in mind that the IE Hispanic community is vastly more second and third generation than LA- And that while alternative leaning rock is huge in Latin America, active and most mainstream is not. If any rock station can index high with Hispanics, it is KROQ.

KNAC was unfamiliar and very hard. They were not mass appeal whatsoever. KQLZ (Pirate Radio) was the closest thing we've had to Active Rock (under Shannon) and it had a 2.7 when it went away. Now, it's been 17 years since it went away and the changing demographics probably wouldn't lend to a 3.0 share anymore. However, a 2.0 share (maybe).

And, the power ratios should be good - because it would attract a decent number of 18-49 and 25-54 men.

KROQ had its best numbers when it leaned more to the rock side than the Alternative side.

 

[housemusic]

maybe rick cummings can join rick dees on the Rick and Rick show. Jeff needs to put rick somewhere. He's down 18% in NY, down 17% in LA and Chicago is flat. I think Emmis needs some new Rick.

 

[Radiogeek500]

maybe rick cummings can join rick dees on the Rick and Rick show. Jeff needs to put rick somewhere. He's down 18% in NY, down 17% in LA and Chicago is flat. I think Emmis needs some new Rick.

Any reason as to why NYC and Chicago are problematic for Emmis? I'm thinking the writers strike in NYC's case, but not sure about Chi.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

I believe there are options with the meter coming. We still do not have a real rock station. Active or Mainstream Rock would perform moderately well - even with the current ethnic makeup of the marketplace. Both KCXX and KCAL pull over 40% Hispanic cume on a regular basis in the I.E. We now have three stations playing Spoon but no one playing Disturbed.

Keep in mind that the IE Hispanic community is vastly more second and third generation than LA- And that while alternative leaning rock is huge in Latin America, active and most mainstream is not. If any rock station can index high with Hispanics, it is KROQ.

KROQ doesn't do well in the Hispanic community because alternative leaning rock is huge in Latin America. In fact, the vast majority of the audience listening to KROQ has never heard radio in Latin America. Very little of the KROQ cume is first generation.

 

[davideduardo]

KROQ doesn't do well in the Hispanic community because alternative leaning rock is huge in Latin America. In fact, the vast majority of the audience listening to KROQ has never heard radio in Latin America. Very little of the KROQ cume is first generation.

Actually, there is a correlation. If Alternative does well in Latin America, to some extent it means there is a cultural affinity for that kind of music. While most of the KROQ Hispanic listeners are third generation and beyond, there are some first generation and quite a lot in second... it depends on the socioeconomic background of the individual and the home.

If the family listened to pop and rock in Mexico, the kids will not grow up on rancheras.

 

[shirleyschmidt]

To me, at this point, 93.9 and Dees could go off the air and send silence over the airwaves. Bet they could get better ratings that way. People would tune in just to hear nothing.

Los Angeles airwaves needs a little overhauling. Sometimes I think our town sees itself as a much smaller community than it is. Some shows I have heard in the last six months reminds of little town shows across the great USA, not shows that should be airing in a huge metropolitan city.

 

[john77]

To me, at this point, 93.9 and Dees could go off the air and send silence over the airwaves. Bet they could get better ratings that way. People would tune in just to hear nothing.

Los Angeles airwaves needs a little overhauling. Sometimes I think our town sees itself as a much smaller community than it is. Some shows I have heard in the last six months reminds of little town shows across the great USA, not shows that should be airing in a huge metropolitan city.

They certainly could. My question is just WHY has Emmis stuck with this loser of a format for so very long? With the way CC continues to mismanage most of their cluster, it seems like Rick w/the help of a decent PD could wedge a nice hole between KIIS and KBIG and at the very least get a 2.0 12+.

The L.A. airwaves indeed need some major overhauling. KKGO should be doing a lot better than it is, but like with practically every other station in the market, it's not being programmed very well. KYSR? Don't even get me started there... what a mess that station now is!

 

[shirleyschmidt]

To me, at this point, 93.9 and Dees could go off the air and send silence over the airwaves. Bet they could get better ratings that way. People would tune in just to hear nothing.

Los Angeles airwaves needs a little overhauling. Sometimes I think our town sees itself as a much smaller community than it is. Some shows I have heard in the last six months reminds of little town shows across the great USA, not shows that should be airing in a huge metropolitan city.

They certainly could. My question is just WHY has Emmis stuck with this loser of a format for so very long? With the way CC continues to mismanage most of their cluster, it seems like Rick w/the help of a decent PD could wedge a nice hole between KIIS and KBIG and at the very least get a 2.0 12+.

The L.A. airwaves indeed need some major overhauling. KKGO should be doing a lot better than it is, but like with practically every other station in the market, it's not being programmed very well. KYSR? Don't even get me started there... what a mess that station now is!

KKGO seems to be in total disarray.

Listeners have no idea what they will hear next and by what DJ.

The DJs don't have a lot to talk about. You go from the morning guy, who is all over the place, to a quieter person that spins more than talks (which is okay) and then to a another person who is talks about the record, album year of release, to no DJ hours. Content and music seems out of whack. Let me correct that last statement because there is no content.

Don't even get me started on the lack of promotion.

Shall we dance? What about KYSR...